Unidentified Object Damages US Fighter Jet During Arizona Training Flight

A mysterious airborne object collided with a US military fighter jet over Arizona, damaging the aircraft during a training flight. The strange incident, now confirmed in official documents, has raised questions about what exactly is lurking in the skies near American military installations.

The encounter happened in January 2023 when an F-16 Viper - a high-speed, multi-role fighter jet used by the US Air Force - was struck mid-flight by what's been described as an "orange-white uncrewed aerial system." In simpler terms, this means a drone or some other small, pilotless flying object. The impact damaged the jet's canopy, the clear shield that covers the cockpit, forcing it out of service for repairs.

The report came to light in a set of documents released by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which stated that the agency logs any unexplained aerial sightings reported by pilots to air traffic controllers. If radar or other evidence supports the sighting, the information is passed on to the Pentagon's All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) - the team currently tasked with investigating sightings that could relate to unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs).

This incident wasn't a one-off. According to a detailed investigation by The War Zone, small unidentified flying objects have been reported in the area since at least January 2020. These objects, sometimes seen flying in loose groups of up to eight, have been spotted at high altitudes over and near sensitive Air Force training ranges in Arizona - areas often used to conduct combat exercises and test military aircraft.

What's especially concerning is that these objects are flying in restricted airspace and can't be easily identified, intercepted, or even consistently tracked. In fact, similar swarms of drones have caused alarm in other parts of the US too. In late 2024, reports emerged of unexplained drones buzzing over New Jersey for weeks. Despite multiple sightings, authorities were unable to work out where the drones were coming from or who was behind them. At the time, New Jersey state lawmaker Brian Bergen described the situation as worrying, though officials insisted there was no "credible threat."

The Arizona case has caught the attention of former Pentagon UAP investigator Luis Elizondo, who's known for previously working with the Department of Defense on similar unexplained sightings. Speaking to NewsNation, Elizondo said he was aware of the reports and added, "There has been a lot of activity, a lot of people reporting a lot of things out of Arizona, particularly on the border."

The idea of the US military being shadowed by unknown craft might sound dramatic, but there's a more down-to-earth theory too: drug cartels. According to NewsNation's border reporter Ali Bradley, the technology being used may not be extraterrestrial at all, but advanced drones operated by criminal groups. These drones are reportedly used for smuggling and spying on US Border Patrol.

Bradley explained that cartels have been using drones for the past decade, typically to transport small packages - up to 10 kilograms - of drugs across the border. More recently, they've been employing high-end drones made in Russia and France, originally designed for agricultural use. These devices are harder to detect than more commonly available Chinese-made drones, making them a useful tool for criminal surveillance operations.

"The cartel wants intel on the United States," Bradley said. "That's their No. 1 priority: to always be one step ahead of us. So what better place to do that than to infiltrate our military installations in some capacity."

Ron Vitiello, a former acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also suggested cartel involvement. Speaking to NewsNation, he pointed out that these criminal organisations have near-unlimited funds, making it possible for them to invest in cutting-edge drone tech that's far more advanced than anything previously encountered by US border authorities.

Despite these plausible theories, the fact remains that a military jet - one of America's most sophisticated combat aircraft - was physically struck mid-air by an unknown object. That makes the incident more than just a matter of border security or criminal activity. It touches directly on national defence and raises questions about how prepared military systems are to deal with modern threats from the sky - whatever their origin.

According to the most recent report from the Pentagon's anomaly office, a total of 757 unexplained aerial incidents were officially logged between May 2023 and June 2024. Of these, only 49 have so far been marked "case closed." That leaves a large number of sightings - including this Arizona incident - still unexplained.

While there's no suggestion at this point that what struck the F-16 was anything otherworldly, the fact that the government is still unable to determine what it was, who it belonged to, or how to prevent future incidents, leaves the door open for continued speculation.

Whether it's cutting-edge cartel tech or something more mysterious, the skies over Arizona seem to be attracting increasing attention from both above and below.